Snapdragons Go POP!
by AbRaCaDaBrA
Summary: Adriel isn't your everyday witch. Never mind that fact that she's a Malfoy...in Gryffindor.
1. Some Author Notes/Prologue

Snapdragons Go Pop!  
  
Or, The Black Sheep of the Malfoys  
  
Or, Save Us From The "Kids Of The Canon" Cliché!  
  
Or, *insert witty title here*  
  
By Annie ContraBassClarinet  
  
"Some Author Notes/Prologue"  
  
This is a story in first person from the perspective of Adriel Malfoy, the daughter of Draco Malfoy. She befriends Joseph Potter (son of Harry and Ginny) and Minerva and Albus Weasley (twins of Hermione and Ron). Joseph is the next-generation Harry, as Minerva is to Ron and Albus to Hermione. Some other characters you may recognize are Hades Malfoy (Adriel's older brother) as Draco, and Danny Weasley as Percy (sort of).  
  
This story is just riddled with clichés, I am well aware. "So sue me…or better yet, review me!" I tried to make this story not suck and not be predictable, but it becomes predictable in its un-predictable-ness.  
  
That didn't make sense.  
  
Anyway, this story really doesn't have a title, and I really don't know where this story is going. And Draco is a bad guy again.  
  
This story has a vague reference to HARRY POTTER AND THE BOOK OF EVIL (my novel-length fan fic, you can read it here at FF.N and I suggest you do) which, I just realized, kind of ruins the ending of Book of Evil. Oh well, it's not like anyone is actually reading that story. But if BoE sounds interesting, don't read this story. In fact, I highly suggest NOT reading this story unless you're absolutely bored and pretty sure you're not going to read BoE.  
  
Why do I even have this story here?  
  
'Tis an enigma.  
  
Anyway, continue, if you dare.… 


	2. Herbology With Neville

Snapdragons Go Pop!  
  
Or, The Black Sheep of the Malfoys  
  
Or, Save Us From The "Kids Of The Canon" Cliché!  
  
Or, *insert witty title here*  
  
By Annie ContraBassClarinet  
  
"Herbology With Neville"  
  
I bit my lip and looked carefully at Professor Longbottom. He repeated the name again. "Adriel Malfoy?" I gulped and slowly raised my hand. "Oh," he said, looking over his attendance chart, "The Headmaster's daughter, I presume?" I nodded quickly. He chuckled, and a few Gryffindor girls giggled in the back of the room. "Well! Our first celebrity of the day." I felt my face go red, and slid down in my chair until I could only see the thick Herbology book in front of me. Longbottom continued until he reached the name "Joseph Potter." There was another burst of laughter from some Slytherin boys next to me, and I sat up.  
  
"Your father was a brilliant man, Joseph," finished the professor quietly. I saw a Gryffindor with messy black hair and big brown eyes frown and look at the floor. His friends next to him smiled and patted him on his back. They looked very much like twins, although the girl had flaming-red hair and the boy's was curly and brown. Finally, Professor Longbottom got to them, as I wondered who they were.  
  
"Minerva Weasley...not named after Professor McGonagall?" The girl's ears went red and she nodded. Longbottom returned to the sheet. "And Albus Weasley...oh, I see. After dear old Headmaster Dumbledore?" Albus grinned cheerily.  
  
"That's me, Professor." He waved his hand quickly and put his head back into the Herbology book.  
  
There was a brief moment of pause. I looked around quickly. Joseph, Minerva, and Albus were busy talking, and the rest of the Slytherins were all preoccupied. I slid my chair over to the Gryffindors.  
  
Joseph turned his head, looked at me, and furrowed his brow. "How could you be in Gryffindor if you're a Malfoy?" he asked. I sighed. I'd heard that many times already.  
  
"Looks like I'm special." I shrugged. The memory of my father's face after my sorting came floating by in my head. He was the headmaster, and I had gotten an up-close look at his shocked expression. Yes, I thought, I'm different. The black sheep.  
  
Albus picked his head up from his book. "Does anyone know what we're doing today? I've been just dying to see those Levitating Toadstools I read about."  
  
Minerva shrugged. "I just want to get a look at those snapdragons, but they're in Greenhouse Three."  
  
"Snapdragons?" asked Joseph. "You mean those little flowers bumblebees get stuck in?"  
  
She laughed, pulled Albus's book out of his hands, and faced it to Joseph and me. "This is a snapdragon."  
  
It was a picture of a dark green plant with waxy, tall leaves and a green dragon-type head growing out of it. I gave a little gasp. "Weird!" commented Joseph.  
  
AI wonder what they feed it?" I asked out loud. Longbottom looked up from his attendance and seating charts. He looked at me and smiled.  
  
"Adriel, I would suggest asking your brother. He takes care of them for me." He gave a lopsided grin and returned scribbling on the papers.  
  
"You have a brother?" asked Minerva, surprised. "Is he in Slytherin or Gryffindor?"  
  
"Slytherin," I responded. "His name's Hades. Third year. He's a chaser on the Quidditch team. That's about it," I told them. I lowered my voice so no one but Minerva, Albus, and Joseph could hear me. I had only known them since the Sorting yesterday but felt I could trust them. "Hades and I, let's just say, are not friends. We avoid the term family, none the less brother and sister. He was the main reason I didn't want to go into Slytherin."  
  
Albus nodded. "Minnie and I have a brother sort of like that. He's a third year too, a Beater in Quidditch, but he acts like he's the Minister of Magic. Over the summer he was talking to us about how great Hogwarts is and offering us help in the subjects in September."  
  
"Now he won't even say hello in the halls," finished Minerva.  
  
Joseph gave a little laugh. "You think that's bad. Try your little cousin, Jessie. Every single day. 'When are you going for Hogwarts? How does your wand work? May I play with your owl? Can I read your books?' " He shook his head. "Read them, more like scribble all over them."  
  
"You're cousins?" I asked. Albus nodded.  
  
"Minnie and I are twins, and Joe is our cousin. And his little sister Jessica."  
  
"Is Jessie that little redhead with the green eyes I saw at the station?"  
  
Minerva rolled her eyes. "Yes, more than all three of us can handle. Ten years old and she just recently learned how to take turns. We're not going to have a lot of fun with her on our tail next year."  
  
Professor Longbottom suddenly seemed to remember that he was to be teaching a class. He stood, brushed some greenhouse dirt off his robes, and cleared his throat. The class turned their attention to him.  
  
"In Herbology, you will learn about plants that help aid magic spells and potions. Like, for example, the Sheperd's Purse. He picked up a tall plant in a clay pot with dusty yellow flowers. "This plant is used to help calm the stomach in potions with particularly harsh ingredients." Longbottom put the plant back and reached down to a smaller pot containing a big pod hanging from a tiny stem. "And, this is an puffapod - a very young one." He opened the pod and deftly plucked a purple-pink seed from inside. Picking up a larger pot, he placed the seed on the soil and amazed the class as it burst into bloom. Longbottom chuckled at our faces.  
  
"I'm going to divide you into groups of four. You'll choose any plant from Greenhouse One, Two, or Three. A week from today, your group will present a short report -- about fifteen inches total -- on your plant. The discovery, earliest uses, origin of name, and today's uses should be included. Today, you will observe your plants by taking careful notes and sketches. Yes, Albus?"  
  
Albus had his hand waving since the beginning of Longbottom's introduction. "Excuse me, Professor Longbottom, sir," asked Albus quickly, Abut did you say Greenhouse Three?"  
  
"Yes, Weasley," he replied, in a funny kind of secretive tone, "and I daresay you and your friends will choose snapdragons?"  
  
His ears turned red, just like Minerva's. "Yes, Professor," he mumbled.  
  
"Alright then, class, break into your groups and I'll go get your plants. In the meantime, start looking in your books. I want information on its origin of name and the earliest uses, modern uses, determining its health, and how to take care of it." He moved around to the groups, obviously skipping mine, and left for the other greenhouses.  
  
Joseph turned a couple of pages in his book. "There's a lot of information here on all the animal plants. "Almost three pages on the snapdragons. How do we want to divide the work?"  
  
Albus pulled out a piece of spare parchment. "Four people, four parts of information. Hmm," he mumbled to himself.  
  
"I'll work on the history," I volunteered.  
  
Albus wrote it down. I'll do today's uses," Minerva announced. AI mean, there's got to be lots of ways to…to use…the…snapdragons?" Her face turned a slight shade of gray, and we all looked at Longbottom as he strolled into the room. He walked between the tables, putting down a pot of different plants in the middle of every group. My face and probably everyone else's opened wide as he cheerily plunked down a tiny dish with a chicken-egg sized lump and a few short leaves.  
  
Joseph whistled through his teeth in a sigh. "I should have known," he remarked after a pause, while we stared at the lump, "the snapdragons haven't hatched yet." 


	3. No Chasee Third Years!

Snapdragons Go Pop!  
  
Or, The Black Sheep of the Malfoys  
  
Or, Save Us From The "Kids Of The Canon" Cliché!  
  
Or, *insert witty title here*  
  
By Annie ContraBassClarinet  
  
"No Chasee Third Years!"  
  
We looked in envy at a group of Slytherin boys, who were happily recording the eating habits of the Romanian Flytraps. The flat, green, spiked mouths snapped at Bernard Claw's quill as he poked it repeatedly at the red hole in the center. Minerva pulled out her quill and pushed the black lump, which we figured was supposed to be an egg. Unlike the repeated clacks followed by howls of laughter, our egg moved slightly and we spied a root underneath.  
  
"Judging by the egg's shape and color," stated Albus, sounding, as usual, as if he had swallowed the textbook, "this specimen is approximately three weeks old."  
  
I looked at him again. "When do snapdragons hatch?"  
  
He looked down at the textbook and shook his head. "This thing won't be anything more than a black blob for another two weeks." We had a moment of pause as we watched some other Gryffindors play with the balmstrang, who was rocking around in its potted soil. Oh, great, I thought. We get to report on black eggs. Well, at least I have three new friends.  
  
Albus decided to take the job of how to take care of them - after swearing not to go ask my brother for help. Joseph chose to research how to interpret the health of the snapdragon. We all pulled out our copies of 1001 Magical Herbs and Fungi and began writing our findings.  
  
"The snapdragon was discovered about two thousand years ago, by a distinguished wizard named Burdock Muldoon, before gaining the position of Chief of the Wizards' Council. It was first found on one of the isles of Madagascar, a small island off of Africa," I wrote. This was very boring. I looked up again at the snapdragon eggs, their shells as black as midnight. I wondered what lay inside the shell. Was it a tiny little dragon, just growing by the day? Was it a disjointed collection of organs? Well, whatever was inside, I concluded, it was better in there than out here.  
  
Longbottom finally announced class was over. Joseph, Minerva, Albus, and I walked out of Greenhouse Four to return to Gryffindor Tower for lunch. On the way to the portrait, in the west corridor, I accidentally walked into someone. "Sorry!" I exclaimed, and picked up one of his books he had dropped. I suddenly realized he had the same fiery hair as Minerva and the hurried expression of Albus. "Oh, you must be Danny Weasley," I commented. His ears grew red and he hurried away down the hall with some other third-year friends of his.  
  
Albus looked at the retreating backs and shook his head. "That's Daniel John Weasley for you. I don't know what he thinks we are." Minerva squinted as she watched Danny and the other people.  
  
"Who are his friends? I didn't see them in the common room last night," she asked.  
  
I looked closely and found my breath catch in my throat and my stomach drop sharply. There was no mistaking that upright posture and silver-blond hair. I whispered one word. "Hades."  
  
Joseph inhaled quickly. "That's Hades? With Danny?" he whispered back. "What do you think they're up to?"  
  
I shook my head. Minerva grabbed Albus's hand. "Let's follow them!" she cried. They ran down the hall. Joseph looked around the empty corridor, snatched my wrist, and sprinted after them, dragging me behind. We rounded the corner, skidded to a stop, and expected to see the astonished faces of the four boys.  
  
Wild excuses ran fleeting through my head as to why we were running after them. The only problem was, they were not there.  
  
Joseph, Minerva, Albus, and I stood staring at the very empty corridor in front of us. There was only a doorway leading to a dimly lit section of what appeared to be the library. The library is under the South Tower, I thought. We are almost at Gryffindor Tower, on the West Side of Hogwarts. We began walking into the dark room when Minerva suddenly stopped us. "This isn't the library," she whispered, her voice higher than usual. "Do you think these books are really safe?"  
  
My head spun with the possibility of what could be in these books. "My dad told me something about a restricted section in the library. Maybe these are the books that won't fit in the restricted section," offered Joseph. Albus gulped.  
  
"Or maybe they are the books they won't even allow in the restricted section."  
  
There was a sudden creak in what seemed the back of the room. I looked around at the others. Their eyes were almost as big as dinner plates. I decided to take this matter into my own hands.  
  
"Well, the books aren't going to fly off the shelves and attack us, are they?"  
  
Albus looked at me as if I had grown another head. Then, suddenly, Minerva and he took off like a shot to through the shelves. Joseph and I listened to their resounding footsteps. "Adriel?" he asked. I turned to him. "Is it just me, or do you think they're getting involved in something we shouldn't be?"  
  
A sudden scream cut through the air. "AJoseph! Adriel!" cried Minerva. Joseph caught a glance at me and we set off towards the end of the hall. There were the four boys we had spotted in the hall: Hades, Danny, and two others. And, to top it all off, the two others held Minerva and Albus in a choking headlock.  
  
"Put them down!" yelled Joseph, but I knew what I had to do. This, this precious moment...was finally here. I pulled my wand out from under my robes and pointed it straight at Hades. He looked at my wand and laughed, but I held myself staunch.  
  
"Serpensortia," I muttered. The black snake shot out of the wand with a bang and landed two feet from Danny. He stared at the snake and at me. Whoops, I thought, I was not supposed to know that spell. Well, too late for that now. There would be another thing I shouldn't know that I would reveal that day.  
  
The snake looked around and started towards Albus. He jumped back, the older boy having released him after the shock of the spell. "Hades. Attack Hades Malfoy," I uttered. However, it was not in English. Yes, folks, I thought bitterly, I am a decidedly different Malfoy. I had uttered the curse in Parseltoungue.  
  
The snake set forward towards my brother. Hades's cold grey eyes showed strangled fear as he backed away. This, this was it, the moment, I could finally get revenge on my brother. Joseph, Albus and Minerva backed away with nearly the same fear as Hades, Danny, and the others. The snake leapt forward and sunk his fangs into Hades's leg. It started bleeding as the snake bit the other ankle. Hades gave a howl of pain as I found an evil, bone-chilling laugh escape from my mouth. Hades, my mortal enemy, would be gone at last. "Kill him! Kill him and avenge me!" I screamed in Parselmouth. Lightning bolts began escaping from my wand, and crackled in the air as I suddenly found myself floating above the ground.  
  
"Adriel, no!" Albus cried. I was out of control. Hades was writhing on the ground, screaming in agony, as the snake attacked him again and again.  
  
"She's going to kill him!" exclaimed Minerva.  
  
"Not if I can help it," alerted Joseph. The last thing I could remember before blacking out was being dragged to the ground while someone commanded the snake to stop in Parseltoungue. 


	4. Hospital Wing Revelations

Snapdragons Go Pop!  
  
Or, The Black Sheep of the Malfoys  
  
Or, Save Us From The "Kids Of The Canon" Cliché!  
  
Or, *insert witty title here*  
  
By Annie ContraBassClarinet  
  
"Hospital Wing Revelations"  
  
Flames danced before my eyes. Flames? How strange. I tried to put my hand up to the flames to calm the deep cold inside me, but my arms were too heavy. I blinked, and the Hogwarts medical ward swam into focus. The fire appeared over a strange, distorted face. I blinked again. Minerva! Of course.  
  
I coughed. "Minerva?" I croaked. "What are you doing here?" She looked down at me and gaped.  
  
"Joseph! Albus!" she called. "Adriel's back!"  
  
I saw Albus hurry over from the other side of the ward. "How long have I been here?" I asked.  
  
"Three days," reported Albus. "You've been conked out for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Astronomy, and Charms. But I saved all your work."  
  
That was Albus for you, I thought. "Where's Joseph?"  
  
He walked over from the far side of the ward, and seemed very subdued.  
  
Minerva looked into Joseph's face and mine, and her expression grew very stern. "Joseph, we agreed you would tell us everything that happened when Adriel came to. I want, and Albus wants, an explanation."  
  
Joseph swallowed and looked at me. I shook my head. I was too exhausted from waking up; it felt as if I had just been in a terrible car accident. However, the truth needed to be told. I sighed, and began to talk.  
  
AI can't even begin to tell you the trouble I've had with Hades, and…and my father. But I'll give you an idea." I took a deep breath as tears formed at the corners of my eyes. I wiped them away and continued.  
  
"From childhood, I was squashed underfoot. The forgotten, unwanted. My father, Draco Malfoy, was too conceited with Hades. He gave him everything except punishments, which I received repeatedly, often for no reason at all. I got all the hand-me-downs from Hades, who treated everything he had as if it were nothing at all." I paused for a moment and picked at the frayed sleeve of my robe. "My father didn't want me to go to Hogwarts, but the letters came and he had no choice but to send me. At the Sorting Ceremony…" I trailed off.  
  
"What did the hat tell you?" asked Minerva gently.  
  
"It said, that I should be put in Slytherin because I was a Malfoy. I argued and insisted that I was not an evil person. It suddenly realized…it said…something like, 'Your courage through your family makes you more than worthy of Gryffindor.' So then, I was put in Gryffindor, much to my father's astonishment."  
  
The tears suddenly came, and I tasted the salty bitterness on my lips.  
  
There was a brief silence, and Joseph put his arm around me. "You show that you study much. I've never even heard of a spell like Serpentsortia. And the way you attacked those third years to save Minerva and Albus is something I would have never done."  
  
"But, but, you're a…you can talk to snakes. In snake language. Both of you can. Why?" Minerva demanded.  
  
Joseph, thankfully, answered. "It's called Parselmouth. Some people have it. Some don't. We…we're just born, being able to do it."  
  
Albus looked at us, frightened.  
  
How do we know you're not going to attack us? It's the mark of…of You-Know- Who!"  
  
"Voldemort," Joseph and I corrected at the same time.  
  
"Albus," remarked Minerva, "Joseph is our cousin. We've known him forever. He got, what's it called, Parselmouth, from our Uncle Harry. Remember?"  
  
"But what about Adriel?" Albus snapped. Joseph looked at me, and I was suddenly very glad to have his arm there. He wouldn't think I was evil. Right?  
  
"I don't think Adriel needs to tell us anymore about her past today," commented Joseph. I ignored him, but suddenly became very tired. The aching in my hands came back as I replied.  
  
"My mother was a Parselmouth. She was from America, from a wizard school named Columbia Academy. She didn't know she was one, mind you, until she was an exchange student at Hogwarts in her fifth year. Well, my dad went off and got married to her, but my grandfather got so angry at him he supposedly pushed her off the edge of a cliff blindfolded. Old family story, but I haven't seen my mom since I was three."  
  
"You're half-American, then?" asked Albus.  
  
"You say it as if it's a bad thing," I answered, grinning.  
  
The nurse, a barmy, twittering thing aptly named Madame Dwink, hurried Albus, Minerva, and Joseph out and pulled curtains around my bed. "Quite the little socialite, aren't we?" she asked in an annoyingly high voice. I pretended to not hear her, and started drifting off to sleep.  
  
I didn't realize then how well my friends could keep a secret. 


End file.
